Sunflower

I want a sunflower. And I would LOVE the next person who buys me one. Haha. No, but in all seriousness, I really want a sunflower. With the longggg stalk.

And I was even thought that maybe I can plant it in my garden next time. And I was all excited about it, thinking that I can reserve a patch in the garden all for my flower. Until I found out that I need to protect the sunflower seeds from birds. Like of all animals; birds. I think they fend me off better than me fending them off.

Okay, so.. Anyone wants to buy me a sunflower?

Current situation...

You have been warned.

I'm dedicating this post to you

I needed that conversation; a break from all that has been happening.

From the girl-to-girl talk, to the giggling and squealing (over msn), to the strange and funny secrets we promise to never tell, to the fact that there is 'no strings attached', to our random outburst of nothings, to the exaggerated CAPITAL letters, to the little encouragements and testimonies shared...

I really miss you a lot.

Thanks Teo (:

p.s. Ramen when I get back okay?

Wise Words

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King

Matthew 25:31-46

Because the passage is rather long, I shall not type it all out. So click on the link to read it.

³⁷"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

...

⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I remember when I first read this passage I thought of stuff like, just being nice to the homeless by maybe giving them food or giving them some money. I thought it meant stuff like being hospitable to people around me and stuff. I mean, it's easy to do these things to people you love; your friends and family.

But how about people you don't like; people you don't love?

It just suddenly struck me today that the challenge here wasn't to your loved ones, it wasn't to the pitiful but (for me) it's really to the people that I don't like, the people I have yet to love. The people who do things that really disgust me, the people who simply annoy me.

So I guess, it's really something to think about. Because it's really easy to go, oh I've done this and this and this for a friend, or for a person in need. Which then means I have done this for God, blah blah blah. But it's not easy to say the same thing for someone we dislike?

So yeah. Something to ponder over.

(:

To have and to hold from this day forward

For better or for worse

For richer, for poorer

In sickness and in health

To love and to cherish

Stepping out, in faith

Back in Secondary School, I used to sing 'Lord I'm stepping out from the comfort zone'. I never really fully understood what it meant. I pictured simple, do-able stuff like going for short term mission trip and not having the comfort of my bed. I imagined stuff like not being able to eat whatever I want but just being grateful for whatever food was placed in front of me when going to the mission field. But God had more planned for me. More than I have ever imagined. God has really challenged me beyond my wildest dreams.

It's the 16th of Oct. Decision day. And I must say, it wasn't easy to come to this decision. It was very painful decision in fact. But I did ask God to not let me stay stagnant in what I do. I did tell God that I wanted to be able (whenever He called me to), to take not steps but leaps out of my comfort zone. I want to just trust Him wholeheartedly that when I take that step off the cliff, in faith, that He'll either catch me or teach me to fly.

So I guess it has boiled down to this; am I willing to take that step out of my comfort zone again? Am I willing to take that step again, in faith?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I pray for courage and wisdom as I hand in the letters later. And I'm going to trust that for God to bring me to this decision, that He has a plan and a purpose for this to happen.

Drained

The weird (not to mention, horrible) singing, the smell of smoke, the sound of breaking glass, the sound of people speeding off... It's weird, but I think part of me is glad to be back in A'Beckett. It's just that sense of familiarity. It's like, although it's a rather dangerous place, I feel safe. Hahahaha. I'm probably just weird.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31

Tomorrow marks the end of week 12 (for me) and woah. One more week of school and then exam starts. One whole sem just flew by like that. And I'm honestly very tired; mentally tired. I just want to stop doing everything. It's like I really need breathing space. Everything is moving at such a fast pace that all I want to do is stop. So I really pray that I will renew my strength in the Lord and finish this sem well.

Good times

Funniest conversation ever. Hahaha. It's funny how we all think mush wants to be a pervert. Poor little mushroom. Haha.

Click to enlarge

Random thoughts at 2am

I just suddenly realised how twice this year I would have to see an empty apartment; Spring Street and Dairy Farm.

As much as it is exciting to start a new chapter and stuff, it's so hard to close the old one. It's hard to let go and move on. I'm really going to miss Dairy Farm, especially since I grew up there. Haha, random note, I remembered crying when my dad sold the first car I remembered sitting in. And I was probably in kindergarten or something. Shows you how much of a sentimental person I am. I can still remember the car plate number. Actually, I can remember all the car plate numbers.

Ok cars aside, I guess I should be strong. Not only for me but for my family as well. It's just going to be really sad, to go back and see our belongings in boxes, my piano gone. Familiar furniture to be thrown away. It's really the little things that holds the greatest sentimental values. But I guess ultimately, the memories will stay with us and come with us. God has plans for us, which involves coming to Melbourne.

Things will be good next year. I can feel it. So long as we do God's will as a family, He will continue to look after us and bless us abundantly. I know He'll provide for us.

To new beginnings (:

The Fire

Got the link from Gloria's blog. This is actually quite powerful stuff, so you should really make the effort to watch it.

1 Corinthians 13

My dear faithful pen (:

Okay, I need to do something regarding my obsession with stationery. But really, this pen is amazing, the ink flow is amazing....

But with that aside, these few days 1 Corinthians 13 has really been speaking to me, or rather, it has somewhat been my conscience over the past few days, reminding me to do things in love.

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I don't think it's easy to love, especially people whom we don't like or people with those irritating quirks. Well, to cut to the chase, we should love others because He first loved us. Can you imagine if God looked at us and went, 'omg such an annoying bunch of people, all of you should DIE'. But yet He showered us with grace and mercy and on top of that, loved us so so so much that He gave the world His one and only son, Jesus.

I guess that in itself is like motivation for me to really like look pass faults I see in others (Firstly, I shouldn't be judging and secondly, I myself am not perfect) So yes, new challenge for myself; to love others because Christ first loved me, and not only that, but to love unconditionally (:

Public Speaking

Hahahaha. Poor guy.

On the other hand, am I glad I didn't blank out during the coffee min announcement. Or rather, I'm so glad I prepared a script in case I did blank out.

Faithful God

I serve a God, who is faithful and true

And I will hide in the shelter of Your wings

Lord I find my rest in Your faithfulness

Yes I serve a faithful God

I think the decision now is more of am I able to take that step of faith and step out of my comfort zone again? I knew that this kind of decision would come again; I mean, I even prayed for it. I knew that there was no way that I could allow myself to ever become stagnant.

Am I ready to be challenged? Am I even ready?

Deep breaths, Monica, and now take the plunge.

God of the Moon and Stars

I can finally put this up because the announcement is over. I hope this video blesses you as much as it has blessed me (:



Thanks Ziteng for this video.

(It's so noisy that I cannot hear myself think)And so I'll only continue blogging tomorrow or something.

Unlocked

Because of dear Koh Su Mei, I shall unlock my blog.

I really don't have anything to blog about. But oh well, I'll just unlock this place and then maybe my tagboard won't be filled by only those crazy people (yes I think Gerald and Ziteng are crazy).

Oh, and I got my Doncaster address already, as in, I know where I'm going to stay next year. And it's still rather mixed feelings. Oh well.